Those of you that had me for LA245 may recall our discussion of the Myriad Genetics case. Myriad is a case about a company that isolated the genes that are markers for breast and ovarian cancer, and obtained patents for those genes. Groups of doctors and patients, with the help of the ACLU, sued the company, arguing that the patents were invalid because the Court had long ago ruled that you cannot obtain a patent for something that occurs in nature. The reasons for the lawsuit go to the very heart of intellectual property law: the plaintiffs argued that granting a monopoly to Myriad Genetics limited access to health care (the monopoly allowed Myriad to charge a very high price for the test for the gene) and slowed research (Myriad prevented anyone else from conducting research with that gene).
Today the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. For an explanation of the case in plain English, click here.
The Myriad decision has great significance for business. Myriad, like many companies formed to do scientific research, was funded by venture capital money. The ability to obtain a patent as a result of research is the reason why venture capitalists are interested in investing in these companies. Otherwise, there is little financial upside. There are literally thousands of patents related to genes that will be invalidated because of this decision.
On the other hand, the medical community and many patients cheered the Court’s decision. They believe it will lead to increased access to genetic testing, which will lead to better health care.
The SCOTUS blog did a nice roundup of Twitter reaction to the decision.
